To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their everyday lives. Technology has transformed the experience of listening to music, partly through increasing the ease of access to music. A wide variety of stationary and portable consumer electronic devices are capable of providing music playback to a user. Such devices may be capable of playing various forms of music media such as, for example, digital audio files (e.g. MP3 files), audio CDs, audio tapes, and/or radio transmissions (e.g. terrestrial, satellite, and/or internet radio transmissions).
The ongoing convergence of various media, information, and telecommunications technologies has led to single consumer electronic devices that are capable of playing more than one form of music media, as well as single devices that are capable of providing a user with other features in addition to music playback. Such other features may include, for example, telephone, email, text message, calendar, camera, video, and/or web browsing features. While enabling multiple forms of music playback and/or providing additional functionalities in a single device may increase device versatility, seamlessly integrating all of these technologies to allow for an optimal user experience with the device may be problematic.
Certain devices may provide a plurality of audio channels for different audio sources. Other devices may need to rely on only a single audio channel to handle, for example, separate music and voice signals. In these single channel devices, the music and audio signals may not be capable of being transmitted at the same time. Managing the transmission of different audio source signals in a device with only a single audio channel may thus be problematic.
What is needed are improved methods, systems, and program products for controlling the playback of music that allow for an improved user experience with music playback devices.